Their Secret Weapon
by teddygirl105
Summary: Naruse Yui, a first year in class 4, joins the volleyball club as a request from the captain to be their scouting agent. When Oikawa Tooru reveals her identity after their practice match, she's forced to tell everyone what happened, as well as her hated past that connects to it all. She never wanted it to happen, but it did anyways. She can't fix the past. She never will.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to the Team

Karasuno's Boys' Volleyball Team had caught her eye.

Though she couldn't do sports due to her previous injuries, she always thought that they were interesting. The amount of teamwork one needed to build up with their members was incredibly high, especially with volleyball. You had to trust your team, your setter, your libero, everyone, to make sure that they kept the ball in the air.

And that was why Yui Naruse was watching them up on the bleachers, taking notes about each member and their weaknesses and specialties. She was never seen by the team whatsoever, probably because she was so silent and practically invisible with the way she sat.

Well, that was until a volleyball came flying at her face.

A stray ball bounced off the court and up into the bleachers, right where Yui was sitting. Noticing the shadow above her face, she let out a small yelp as she suddenly caught the ball, making everyone freeze as they heard her voice.

"Hey, I think there's someone up there!"

Cursing in her mind, she hastily put her laptop to sleep and shoved it away into her messenger bag, slinging it onto her shoulder as she grabbed the volleyball and approached the ladder. With it held tightly in her arm, she made her way down with one hand, jumping the last four bars.

"Here." she said, handing it to the stunned first year with orange hair, the one she recalled was Hinata Shouyou. Making her way to the door while she had the chance, she had opened it up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Freezing, she looked behind her shoulder to see the captain, Daichi Sawamura.

"Yes?" she asked, turning around to face him.

"Who are you? Why were you up there?" he asked, and she sighed.

"Naruse Yui, second year in class 2-4. I was up there taking information on your team. No, I'm not a spy from any other school such as Aoba Jousai, just interested in your team. That good enough for you?" she explained, crossing her arms as she impatiently tapped her foot.

"How did we not spot you?" Daichi asked, the rest of the team now behind him as they nodded, agreeing with his question.

"I have a tendency to be quite invisible to others, which allows me to easily get information without being caught. If you're wondering, I was a scouting agent back in middle school for the volleyball club."

Nodding, the grey-haired third year named Sugawara Koushi went next to Daichi. "How long have you been up there for?" he asked.

"Ever since the new first years came."

"I see. Then that means that you know of our practice match with Seijou, correct?"

"Yes."

The captains dismissed the team, telling them to get back to practice before going into deep thought. Waiting for them to answer, Yui stared to watch them from behind their shoulders, taking small notes on each player in her head.

"...Join the team and become our spy."

"Eh?!" Caught off guard by their sudden reply, she took a step back, almost falling off the steps. "C-Could you please repeat that?" she stuttered.

"Join the volleyball team and become our scouting agent, or spy if you want."

Biting her thumb, she quickly looked her options over before giving them an answer. "...Alright. I'm not in a club, so this is good for me. Just tell me the details of when our practice match is and I'll get ready for that."

* * *

Checking the items in her bag, Yui made sure that her laptop was secure before boarding the bus to Aoba Jousai. Along with a video recorder and her notebook, she was all set for her scouting agent duties.

Of course, her sudden addition to the team was allowed by the advisor, Takeda-sensei, so she was set to look over practices and matches. The plan was for her to find a spot to set the camera up and start taking notes on her computer.

Arriving at the school with a nervous Hinata, they made their way to the gym, but not before running into some trouble. It had seemed like Tanaka, Tsukishima, and Kageyama had made a bit of a scene with two of the members, so Yui quickly stepped in.

"I'm very sorry for my teammates' behaviour. Please forgive us." she quickly said, bowing to the two boys.

"Ah, no, it's alright." they said, and Yui smirked, knowing that they were putting their guard down in front of a girl. "If you'll excuse us." one said, and they went to make a move to get around them, and she purposely bumped into one.

"You're going down without your Oikawa Tooru." she whispered into his ear, watching her team walk ahead before running off to catch up with them, leaving the boy in shock.

Arriving at the gym, the team started to warm up as Yui found her way to the bleachers, finding a spot where no one would notice her. Setting the recorder up with the tripod, she let it roll, quickly taking out her laptop to get ready.

She set up a few tabs on her screen, one for Seijou, one for her team, and an extra one of an essay that she was working on for extra marks for school, in case someone asked what she was doing.

Looking over at Seijou, didn't see an Oikawa Tooru, so she wasn't worried for her team. _'Let's see... Seijou's spikes are quite strong, and they have nice blocking power. If we can just have Tsukishima and Tanaka practice a bit more, we can be on par with them in no time.'_

The practice match quickly started, with both teams bowing to each other. Seeing as to how Hinata was quite jittery, she yelled to him.

"Hinata! You'll do fine, don't worry! Your teammates will be right behind you, so don't fret if you make any mistakes! Take deep breaths!" she yelled, and he nodded, seemingly better with her words. Doing as told, he calmed down, and the game started.

In the end, the first set ended with Seijou winning 25 - 13.

 _'Note: Hinata needs to work on his serves.'_ Yui added in her mind, sweatdropping at Kageyama's behaviour after being hit in the head. Luckily for them, Hinata was back to normal, so the second set went on with ease.

Taking more notes, a timeout was given by Seijou when they were behind by 2 points, allowing Yui to quickly catch up on her notes and type them out from her memory.

 _'Hmm, now that I look at them, there doesn't seem to be a libero on our side. I'll ask Daichi-san about this matter.'_ Making a note on her laptop, she continued to watch the game, checking the battery of the recorder. _'Shit! Did I not charge the battery? Normally it would still have a three thirds left!'_

Quickly changing the battery with the spare that she had, the match continued, with Karasuno winning 22 - 25.

As the teams got ready for the third and final set, Yui looked over at Seijou and saw a person come from the doors. _'Great. The one person we didn't need is here.'_ Clicking through some older files, she found a document that the team definitely needed. Looking around her, she cursed in her mind. She wouldn't be able to show the team her information, as the match would start by the time she got downstairs via the ladder. Her recorder was also in a risk if she left it behind.

 _'...Fuck it, I'll just move down.'_

Stopping the recording, she put her laptop to sleep and packed everything into her bag. Securing it, she looked around her before hoisting one leg on the railing, thankful that her skirt was long enough.

"Hey! What are you doing? That's dangerous!"

Looking behind, she saw a few students rushing towards her. Gritting her teeth, Yui placed her other foot on the railing before pushing off with her hands, falling towards the ground.

Safely landing on the ground, her hand supporting her crouch, everyone turned to look at her, alerted by her loud landing.

"Yui? Where did you come from? You couldn't have gotten down here that fast with the ladder, did you?" Sugawara asked, and she scoffed, standing up as she started to set her camera up.

"Where do you think I came from?"

Pausing, he quickly realized what had happened. "You jumped off the railing?! You know how dangerous that is? You could have injured yourself!" Sugawara said, scolding the girl as she fixed her camera angle.

"Sugawara-senpai, you're in my way." she said, ignoring his question. Reluctantly moving, Yui started the recording, making sure to focus on Seijou's side of the net. Walking over Takeda, she quickly whispered something into his ear, and he nodded, making his way to Seijou's coach.

She was hoping to get some extra time, and luckily for her, Takeda's pleads had worked. "You only have 5 minutes." he said to her, and she nodded. Grabbing her laptop from her bag, she gestured to the team to follow her to the bench, where she sat down and opened the document up.

"Listen well. This has some very important information that I need to tell you. Yes Tsukishima, that includes you. I can see that you're trying to block out what I'm saying, but if you don't listen, you might cause our loss, and I'm sure that you don't want your ever so wonderful pride to be crushed."

Hinata and Tanaka sniggered, and Yui sent them a glare that made them shut up.

"As you know, Oikawa Tooru is back, but luckily for you, he's injured, so that means that I doubt he'll be actually playing. Because of his injuries, he'll be warming up a bit more. I'd say that he'd be done by the time you guys are at match point, if you can make it there.

"He'll be pinch serving due to his injuries, and this is where we'll lose if you don't pay attention. Oikawa loves to target people, so he'll go for the people who are bad at receiving. Tsukishima, Hinata, that's you two. I'm guessing that by the time this happens, Kageyama, Tanaka-senpai, and Tsukishima'll be in rear guard, which means that Daichi-senpai, Ennoshita-senpai, and Hinata'll be vanguard. Daichi-senpai, it'll be best to move Tsukishima to the sideline after once or twice, just so that he get's used to the strength of his serve.

"Power will be substituted out for accuracy if Tsukishima's at the sideline, so if you can, at least make the ball in court. If it's a chance ball to Seijou, Oikawa'll probably be the first touch, so he can't set it over. I bet that number 8'll probably get. Hinata, if you can, get a one touch. This'll be a free ball for us, and this is when we'll get match point. Use your spike and aim it at Oikawa. Because he hasn't seen it before, he won't know how to react, giving us that final point. Alright?"

"Osu!"

"Well then, let's go!"

With the extra 5 minutes over, the final set started well, and soon enough, they were at match point. Like Yui had said, Oikawa had finished warming up, and was in the game as a pinch server. He aimed at Tsukishima twice, Daichi moved him to the sideline, Seijou got a free ball, Hinata got a one touch, and they won the match with Hinata's spike.

All as if Yui had planned it.

After bowing to Seijou, they cleaned up and got changed, ready to head back to Karasuno. As they were walking to the gates, Yui approached Daichi. "Eto, Daichi-senpai? I have a question for you." He nodded, letting her continue.

"Why don't we have a libero?"

Daichi twitched, and she quickly added on to her question. "You don't have to answer it if you're uncomfortable about it. I'm just a bit curious."

"No, it's fine. We do have a libero, it's just that he got into a bit of trouble, so he got one week of house arrest and a month's ban on club activities. He should be back soon." Nodding her head, she made a mental note to add another player into her folder and get ready for more work.

"No matter how good Kageyama and Hinata's combos are, we're still weak when it comes to strengthening our perimeter. It's quite frustrating to admit." Daichi said, and Yui nodded along, completely agreeing to his statement.

"Ooh~ As expected as the captain! You really do understand the situation, huh?"

Looking up, they saw the Oikawa Tooru leaning against a wall, a smug face on. "What the hell? You want a piece of this? Huh-"

"Tanaka-senpai."

Tanaka stopped his taunts as he heard Yui's voice, and turned around to see that she was a lot more serious than normal. "I've got this."

Walking in front of them, she approached Oikawa with a straight face. "Oikawa-senpai. It's a surprise to see you here. Here to say hello?" she said, crossing her arms.

"Come on Yui-chan! Don't be so serious. Unless you're still keeping up that facade of yours?" he said with a taunting smile, and she scowled.

"I took it down a long time ago."

"Oh really? Then how come I saw you using it today at our match? Don't tell me that you're back in full swing after what happened?" he said, and Yui flinched, biting her lip.

"...You have nothing to say in the matter of that incident. Please be going on your way."

"Alright, alright." Walking past the team, Oikawa made his way back to the school, but paused a good 8 feet from them, turning around with a smirk.

"It's a shame we couldn't have the Empress in Seijou instead of Karasuno. You'd be better off here."

Walking away, they stood there in silence until Takeda-sensei waved them over to the bus, telling them to hurry up. Rushing over, they boarded, Yui sitting at the very back, just a seat behind Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.

She felt cramped and uncomfortable in the bus. Yui could constantly feel eyes on her at times, probably the team wondering on what made her go serious all of a sudden when they saw Oikawa at the gates.

And then Sugawara asked the dreaded question.

"Yui-san?"

Just the sound of him saying her name made everyone shut up, even Hinata and Kageyama. "...Yes?"

"If you don't mind me, and probably the whole team asking, but... why did Oikawa call you the 'Empress'?" he asked, and Yui froze.

"...Have you ever heard of 'The Empress' in any sort of volleyball related section in a magazine or book?" she asked, and most of the team shook their heads, except for the third years.

"She's the woman who taught one of Japan's strongest volleyball team when she was only 25, and retired at the age of 34, right?" Sugawara said, and she nodded.

"Did you realize how after 5 years after her retirement, she never appeared in any more articles?"

"...Yes, though I always just thought that they had stopped taken interest in her."

"Do you remember what her name is?"

"...Kamiko Naruse...!" Sugawara and Daichi quickly realized what she was talking about.

"You mean that she's your mother?!" Daichi exclaimed, and she nodded.

"That's correct. Which is the reason why we come to here. Why would I have her nickname? How would have Oikawa known about what was a sensitive topic for me?"

Yui looked up from the bus floor and looked in everyone's curious eyes. "I'll tell you everything, all starting from the beginning."

"It started with my mother bringing me to one of her practices."

"I was only about 7 years old, and she had me sit on a bench, letting me watch the team play as she coached them. She was trying to get their defense tightened, but just didn't know what she could do. Jokingly, she walked over to me, picked me up, and carried me over to the team, asking me what they should do.

"I answered, saying that they needed more friendship and trust, and everyone laughed. My mother then placed me back on the bench before continuing.

"What they didn't know was that I was right. My words had imprinted themselves into their heads, and they started to cheer each other on. They started to trust each other if they missed, and that had greatly increased their play.

"My mother realized my talent, and as soon as I entered elementary and was at the age where I was allowed to join clubs, she entered me into the volleyball club, making me a scouting agent.

"I was basically an assistance coach, and even though the older players didn't really like having someone younger tell them what to do, I had helped them improve.

"And that was when everything went downhill."


	2. Chapter 2: Thanks

"My brother, Naruse Kakeru, a third year, was faced against Kitagawa Daiichi. This was when Oikawa was a first year, so you wouldn't have known about this Kageyama.

"The game was close,very close, but in the end, Daiichi won 3 out of 5 sets. It was setter against setter, and even though he was 2 years older, he still lost.

"He was devastated, and my mother wasn't pleased. When he went to high school, he skipped a week before going in as a transfer student, and joined the soccer club instead.

"During that period, my mother's health was slowly deteriorating, and was getting weaker and weaker. My brother told her to go to a hospital, and the two planned to meet after school so that my brother could take her there. However, they never met. My brother had gone somewhere with his friends, being selfish so that he'd be accepted into his school.

"She decided to go by herself, but she suddenly collapsed on her way due to a heart attack, and died at the hospital. My brother blamed himself for her death, and I could tell that all of that blame was bringing him down. His fake smiles did nothing to lie to me, even though his friends took the bait.

"He killed himself by biking in front of a truck, previously trying to kill himself by hanging himself with a towel in his bedroom.

"With no other close relatives, I lived with my grandmother until I was old enough to live by my own. I had stopped with my scouting agent duties until I was in my second year of middle school, where I slowly started to pick it back up.

"In those final two years, I had managed to make a name of myself, picking up my mother's old title.

"Kakeru's friends visit my place whenever it's his birthday, bringing small gifts and such to place on the small altar I've made for him, and we chat quite a lot. Not to mention that I'm their babysitter as well." Yui finished, mumbling the last part to herself.

"Nowadays, when I do my duties, I make extra sure that no conflict happens between any team members or their parents. I don't want the same thing happening all over again."

Everyone was silent, processing all the information that she had given them. Luckily, Takeda-sensei couldn't hear what she had said.

"I... I can't believe..." Yamaguchi whispered in shock.

"You can't believe that happened, right? I can't either." she said, grabbing her bag and rising from her seat. "Anyways, sorry for dampening the mood. We're back at school, so let's get going. We've got a gym to clean." Walking down the bus's walkway, she was about to get out when she looked behind her. "Ignore everything I said, alright?" She hopped out and went straight towards the gym, starting on their duty.

Everyone seemed to avoid Yui during that time, and she accepted it, knowing that they just had been told something huge about someone that they've only known for a week.

 _But what they didn't know was that she was broken too._

* * *

After finishing their job, the team split ways, and Yui went home alone, ready for a restless night. Entering her empty home, she dropped her bag off at her room, went into the kitchen, and made some instant ramen for dinner. As she was eating, her phone suddenly buzzed, and she grabbed it from the table, looking at what what it was.

 _'Yui-chan! Sorry to bother you, but could you babysit Kakeru for us on Monday? I know you have school, but it's our anniversary on that day, and we decided that we want a bit of time together without having to stress about him. We'll drop him off at 8 and pick him up at 7. Don't forget that we're here for you, okay? Love, Naho.'_

Giving a sigh, she typed her answer and sent it to her sister-like figure, Takamiya Naho.

 _'Of course. I'll tell the school that I'll be away on that day. I can't wait to see Kakeru again!'_

A few seconds later, her phone buzzed again.

 _'Great! Thank you so much for taking time off school for us! I'll bring all of the things you need as per usual, and I'm sure you have some things left over from when we stocked you up. Kakeru will be delighted to see his favourite babysitter.'_

With a smile, Yui threw away her ramen cup, did her normal duties, and went to bed.

* * *

 _"Obaa-san, do you know where okaa-san's photos are?"_

 _"They should be in the closet in my room, at the very top shelf in a cardboard box Kakeru."_

 _"Thanks."_

 _A ten year old Yui Naruse watched her brother from the corner of her eyes. She watched as he went into their grandma's room, grab a box, and walk into his room, where he looked through it._

 _Then he started to cry._

 _Yui was confused, but when her brother left without a word, she followed right behind._

 _Running as fast as she could, she was just in time to see her brother's tear stained face with a smile on it as he spotted her before the truck crashed into him._

 _"ONII-SAN!"_

* * *

She harshly rose from her bed, a cold sweat blanketing her as tears fell from her eyes.

It had been a long time since she had that dream.

She didn't know what to do. She felt so helpless, like she was back in her 10 year old body again. Sleep would only make that memory replay over and over again, so the only choice was for her to stay awake.

It had only been two hours when she had fallen asleep at 11:30, so she had 6 hours to kill.

Wonderful.

Getting out of bed, she pulled on a sweater and went to her kitchen, where she made some milk tea to calm herself down. Settling at her desk, she grabbed her laptop from her bag and opened it up, being greeted by a bright screen. Squinting her eyes, she lowered the brightness down and started to get to work, where she decided to watch the videos that she had recorded earlier on.

With her notes open, she studied Seijou well, taking notes on their players and how good their abilities were.

Hours passed, and after doodling, snacking, working, and watching videos of random shit, it was finally time for school.

Changing into her uniform, Yui pulled her hair into a ponytail and shoved her laptop inside her bag, got her bento ready, and headed out with drowsy eyes.

Arriving at the school, instead of heading to the gym for morning practice, she went to the office.

"Come in."

Opening the door, Yui walked up to the secretary. "I'll be away on Monday. Some family issues came up, so I have to skip school." she said, partly lying about her reason.

"Alright. Thank you for telling us. Your absence will be noted."

Nodding, Yui left the office and went to the gym, where everyone was deep into practice. "Yui! We were worried that you weren't coming." Sugawara said, and she simply smiled.

"I just had to tell the office something."

"I see. Anyways, you're free to give us any advice and such whenever you want. Just call out and we'll take your comments in mind." Sugawara said, and she nodded. Sitting on one of the benches, where she could easily see everyone with a quick glance. Taking out her laptop, she opened up to her notes and examined her team.

"Hinata, work on your receives and serves! Make sure you can at least get a decent serve over the net."

"Kageyama, try setting to different people! You can't always set to Hinata and Tanaka-senpai, so make sure that you can meet everyone's different needs."

"Yamaguchi, I recommend that you practice serving. I feel like you'll make a great pinch server."

"Tanaka-senpai, try angling your spikes in areas that don't have any players close by to ensure an easy kill."

"E-Eto, I don't really have anything else to say for the other players because you guys are already really good..." Yui mumbled, and they chuckled.

"It's okay Yui-san. You don't always have to give advice. Just do it whenever you have the information, okay?" Sugawara said, and she nodded happily.

Morning practice went smoothly, and classes were quite neutral, leaving Yui with a good amount of energy for after school practice.

She, Hinata, and Kageyama were in the gym a bit earlier than the others, as the duo wanted to work on their skills. Yui was working on adding more information onto Seijou's team members as they did so.

The sound of Hinata's receive and Kageyama yelling, snapped her out of her weary trance of typing. As Hinata went to get the ball from the bleachers, Kageyama tried again, but this time, someone else intercepted his ball.

The receive was perfect, landing right where the presumed position of the setter would be. He was quite short, and Yui guessed that he was a part of the team.

Just then, the doors burst open, revealing Tanaka, Sugawara, and Daichi. As Tanaka spotted the short person, he ran over to him.

"Oi! Noya!"

"Yo, Ryuu!"

Sugawara and Daichi had elated faces, and went to greet the boy as well. "Hinata, Kageyama, meet Nishinoya, a second year." Daichi said to the two boys, not seeming to notice Yui.

She made a new file for this Nishinoya person and typed in a few quick notes from the single receive she saw. Quickly plugging in her laptop in the nearby outlet, she placed it on the floor, next to her phone, and walked over to the group.

"Eto, Nishinoya-senpai, was it?"

Nishinoya looked over to see Yui close by, and he flashed a smile. "That's me!"

"I'm Naruse Yui, the club's scouting agent. It'll be a pleasure to work with you." she said, bowing to him with a smile on her face. "I presume that you are a libero, correct?"

"That's right! You seem to know a lot about volleyball." he commented, and she nodded.

"They don't call me the Empress for nothing."

A shocked expression appeared on his face and he took a step backward. "You're the Empress?! You're so pretty! Are you a third year?"

"Nope. Second year born on December 15, a few days older than Ennoshita-san. I didn't call you senpai for no reason, Nishinoya-senpai."

Nishinoya seemed amazed that someone called him a senpai, and sparkles surrounded him.

"So, did Asahi-san come back?"

 _'Asahi?'_

"...No." Sugawara mumbled.

Nishinoya gritted his teeth, his expression going dark in an instant. "That coward...!"

"Oi, Noya! Don't go talking like that about our ace!" Tanaka yelled.

"Urusai! A coward's a coward!"

"Noya! Wait just a minute!"

"I've already told you! If Asahi-san isn't coming back, then I won't either!"

With that outburst, Nishinoya angrily opened the door and slammed it shut, going to who knows where.

"An ace... Asahi is it? School files can help me with this." Yui mumbled to herself as she walked back to her laptop and settled on the ground comfortably. Searching up a few things, she added a file named 'Asahi Azumane' into the Karasuno team folder and typed up a few suspicions she had about this Asahi.

'wing spiker

ace?

some sort of falling out with libero

maybe a match of some sort that they lost?'

Practice resumed with Nishinoya only going to help with teaching receives, and Yui took that opportunity to get some more notes about him. But as practice went on, she became drowsier and drowsier.

It had only been an hour or so since they had started, but soon enough, she had fallen asleep.

At first, no one recognized that she was sleeping because they had simply thought that she was just hard at work. But when they realized that she wasn't calling out advice like she normally did, they looked over at the girl to see her head leaning against the wall, her glasses at the tip of her nose.

"Do you think she got any sleep?" Yamaguchi commented, and Daichi shook his head.

"I think she stayed up all night looking over her footage of our match yesterday with Aoba Jousai to get information about the players. She works hard, but sometimes I think it's a bit too much, don't you think?"

"Then again, she is the Empress. She's a dedicated scouting agent that makes her team the best." Sugawara added, and they all nodded.

"So do we wake her up?..." Hinata trailed off, unsure on what to do with the sleeping girl.

"Let her rest. She needs it."

With that, the team continued their practice.

* * *

"Alright! Thanks for your help everyone!"

They had finished up with practice and cleaning up the gym, and now were about to go home. "I'll go wake up Yui-san. It seems like she's still asleep." Sugawara said, and Daichi nodded. Walking over, Sugawara packed her things into her bag neatly and placed them next to her.

"Yui-san? It's the end of practice. You should wake up and get home."

"...Just a few more minutes..."

"As soon as you get home, you can sleep as much as you want."

"Shut up Kakeru..."

Sugawara froze up. Though everyone had followed Yui's words and acted like they knew nothing about her past, it was still a sensitive topic. "I guess it can't be avoided." Sugawara mumbled, and he took out Yui's phone.

Turning it on, he was greeted with a lock screen. "A password? Kakeru?" he asked himself as he inputed the name in, and sure enough, that was it. "Of course."

Scrolling through, he found her maps app and tapped on the directions button. A blue path made it's way from the school to her house, and with that information, Sugawara called Daichi over.

"It doesn't seem like she'll be waking up any time soon, so we'll have to carry her over. I've gotten into her phone and have directions." Sugawara explained, and Daichi nodded.

"Alright. Shall I carry her, or..."

"I think you're more suited to do that job. You are stronger than me."

"Okay then."

With the help of Sugawara, they safely got Yui onto Daichi's back, and were off to her house. "You guys go ahead without us. We need to take care of Yui-san first." Sugawara called out to the team, and they nodded.

As the two third years walked off with Yui, Tanaka secretly took out his phone and snapped a picture of them. "It's mom and dad with their kid!" Tanaka whispered, showing the group his photo, and they all sniggered.

Of course, mom and dad- I mean, Sugawara and Daichi were complete oblivious to the blackmail that just happened, and went on their way.

As they walked to Yui's house using the directions on her phone, they had a bit of small talk, about school, volleyball, and just random things that they were interested. Time passed quickly, and soon enough, they were at her house.

Looking around in her bag, Sugawara found Yui's keys and unlocked the door, letting themselves inside. Flicking the light switch on, they located her room and carefully slid Yui off of Daichi's back and onto her bed. Sugawara set her bag next to her desk, and after writing a quick note, left her house.

As the door closed, Yui smiled.

She had woken up while they were on their way to her house, but decided to feign sleep so that they didn't go this way for nothing.

 _She was glad that they had cared._


	3. Chapter 3: Babysitting with Caution

Yui spent the next two days lazing around at home, working on information and playing games on her tv. The fact that she had to babysit the day they were going back to school meant that she had even more time to kill. She had already finished all of her school homework, and was busy playing on her PS4.

"Hello?" she said, taking one hand off the controller to answer her phone.

"Yui-chan! Are you home?"

She sighed, noticing the very familiar and obnoxious voice. "What is it, Kise? I'm busy." she said, scrolling through with her free hand.

"As if! I can tell that you're playing that new Miku game!"

"You mean Future Tone?"

"Same thing! Anyways, I wanted to ask if you could join me in my modelling shoot today!"

"Fuck off. You know how I hate modelling."

"But Yui! They told me that I hafta get someone I know so that it isn't as awkward!"

"...What did you just say?"

"Just come."

"...Fine, you ass. Where are you?"

"I'm actually close by. We're at a cafe called... Hey, what's this cafe called!" Kise yelled to someone out of range. "Cafe Mairieux? Just get there, okay?"

"Fine fine. Any specific clothing I should wear?"

"It's okay. There's actually a studio on the upper floor, so they have clothes for you to wear."

"Alright then. See you in a few."

"See you!"

The call ended, and Yui sighed. "Fucking hell." she mumbled to herself. Turning off her console, she crawled to her room and changed into some simple clothes before she headed off to the cafe.

"Let's see... It should be right... here."

Looking up, she found the cafe right in front of her and opened the door.

"Irashaimasen! How may I help you?" a waitress asked, and Yui gave her a smile.

"Is Kise Ryouta here?" she asked, and the waitress nodded.

"He's up the stairs. Would you like me to guide you?"

"No, it's fine."

Walking towards the stairs, she slowly stepped up and arrived on the second floor, where there was a make up table, a curtained off area that Yui assumed was a changing room, and a white screen with lights shining on it, a camera in front.

And sitting at the make up table was Kise Ryouta himself, being the arrogant assho- I mean, the stunning, handsome man that all the girls fawned over.

"Yui-chan! You're finally here!" he exclaimed, spotting the girl. "Meiko-chan, could you please go get her ready?" he said to the girl with short, brown hair, and she nodded.

"Of course. Yui-san, please follow me."

She followed the girl over to the curtained off area, where a few racks of clothing were against the wall. "Today's theme is a date, so please choose anything you'd see fit." Meiko said before leaving Yui to do her thing.

"...Wait, what?!"

Kise burst into laughter after hearing her outburst. "Have fun, Yui-chan!" he called out, and she growled.

"That asshole, luring me into this shit... God, what if someone sees and misunderstands!" she cried out to herself, but in the end, she just sighed and gave up. It was impossible to change Kise's mind, and there was no use in trying to run. One, her knees would not agree with her, and two, Kise was a fucking basketball player, so he's easily catch her in seconds.

Sighing, Yui reluctantly looked through the clothing and found a few things that she thought would be nice.

A white halter neck top tucked into a black a-line skirt, paired with some short brown boots and a loose cardigan.

"So, h-how do I look?" Yui asked as she stepped out of the area, and Kise's eyes glowed.

"Fucking fantastic. All we need is a bit of make up on your pretty face and to do your hair. Then we'll be set for the shoot."

Meiko walked back over and dragged Yui by arm to the make up table, where she sat in the spot where Kise was. It was very quick, as they wanted a natural look for Yui, and after curling her hair, she was done.

"You look amazing. It's a shame you don't have a boyfriend yet."

"I'm only 16 Kise. That's way too young." she said, lightly smacking him on the arm.

"Oh no no no, I'm sure that you'll get a boyfriend in no time. I can feel it." he said with a smug grin, and Yui simply scowled.

"Whatever. Let's just get this photo shoot done, shall we?"

"Of course. First, we'll be up here for a few shots, before going into the cafe so that we have a better background for our date. Sounds good?" he asked, and she sighed.

"As long as no one who knows me sees me, I'll be fine. It'll be a nightmare if people thought I was dating you." she said, grumbling.

Kise dragged Yui over to where the white screen was, and the photo shoot started. It was simple things, such as holding hands and hugs, which luckily, was something that she could handle.

Then they went downstairs, where they were given some strawberry shortcake to share. "So can we actually eat this?" Yui asked, and Kise nodded.

"As long as you follow what our photographer wants, then you an go right ahead. Just don't eat it too fast, it's part of our shoot."

The two picked up their forks and started to nibble on the cake, pretending to be all lovely dovey for their shoot.

"Kise?"

He looked up to see Yui's arm outstretched in front of him, holding her fork that had a bit of cake on it. "Say 'ahh'." she said with a smile, and he smiled back, happily taking it.

"Mm, tastes better when you feed me, Yui-chan~" Kise said, and even though she was smiling on the outside, Yui was cursing at the boy in her head.

 _'You little piece of shit holy fuck why am I doing this kill me now please this has to end pleaseeee'_

Luckily for her, Yui's cries were answered as Meiko said that the shoot was over, and that the two did a very good job.

"Thank fucking god!" Yui cried out as Meiko took off her make up. She finished off and went to go change her clothes, when Kise stopped her.

"Keep the clothes."

"Kise! I can't!"

"Think of it as my thank you, alright?" he said, and Yui sighed.

"Fine. Anyways, I need to get going. It was nice seeing you, Kise."

"You too, Yui-chan! I'll be sure to rely on you next time!"

"Don't."

Leaving the cafe, Yui walked home in her new clothes, her old ones in a paper bag.

 _'Tomorrow's the day I get to see Kakeru!'_ she happily thought in her mind, knowing that she would be able to skip school the next day.

 _What she didn't know that a pair of eyes were watching her closely._

* * *

The next day, Yui woke up early at 7 changed into some casual clothes. Preparing a fancyish breakfast, she was in the middle of making some miso soup when the doorbell rang. Checking the time, she realized that it was 8 already, so she lowered the heat and ran to the door.

"Yui-chan! It's so nice to see you again!" At the door were her brother's friends, Naho and her husband, Suwa Hiroto. In the baby carrier strapped to Suwa's front was their charming baby boy, Kakeru.

"I could say the same to you, Naho! You too, Suwa." she added as he faked shock. "Come on in! I'm just making some breakfast right now." she said, opening the door wider to let the three of them in. In Suwa's hands was some sort of baby toy and his stroller, and Naho had all of the things that Yui needed, such as baby food, diapers, the usual.

"So he uses a walker now, huh?" Yui commented as they set the things down, and Naho nodded.

"It was Suwa who got it first. I was a bit opposed to it, but after awhile, I got used to it, as it would help him develop." she explained, and Suwa gave a big grin.

"Kakeru loves it. He spends hours rolling around the apartment with a snack in hand, so it's made it really easy for us to do chores."

"Speaking of which, how's my favourite baby?" Yui cooed as she stuck her hands out to Kakeru. Making cue baby noises, he stuck his arms out to her, and Suwa unbuckled the carrier, letting Yui carry the boy. "He's definitely gotten heavier and a lot bigger than the last time I saw him." she said as Suwa placed the carrier on the couch.

"Definitely. Must be all the food he eats. You won't have to worry about him fussing over food anymore, unlike last time." he said, and Yui sent him a look.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked, and he nodded confidently.

"Of course! I'm his father after all, I don't lie."

"I recall that last time you lied to me by saying that he sleeps through out the whole night when I was kept up the whole night by him constantly waking up." Yui retorted, and Suwa gave a sheepish grin.

"Must have been that one time then?"

"As if."

Looking at the time, Yui saw that it was already 8:15, and she was sure that her food must have died. "You guys should head off now. I wouldn't want to waste your time by chatting. Beside, I think my food is going to burn." she said, and they nodded.

"Alright then. Remember, if you need anything, just call us, alright?" Naho said, and Yui nodded.

"Alright! Bye!"

"Bye bye!"

With that, the couple left, leaving Yui and Kakeru alone in her house. "Let's get breakfast ready, shall we?" she asked the baby, and he giggled. Taking the carried from the couch, she buckled it around her and placed Kakeru on his back, where he would be safe from anything possibly splattering onto him.

Once she had finished breakfast and had finished feeding Kakeru his baby food, Yui had fun, playing with him and seeing how much Kakeru had grown since last time. Of course, she still did her work, but did so in the living room, blocking off the hallway so that she could keep an eye on Kakeru as he rolled around in his walker.

Soon enough, lunch came, and after that, it was getting close to dinner.

With a yawn, Yui walked over to the fridge and opened it up to see a lack of ingredients. "I guess it's time to do a bit of shopping, huh?" she mumbled to herself, checking the time to see that she still had about an hour or so until Naho and Suwa came to pick Kakeru up.

"Let's go then."

Pulling on a light jacket on both her and Kakeru, she sat him in his stroller and was off to Shimada Mart.

The sun was setting, so Yui assumed that practice was just about over. As she shopped, a few people looked at her with some strange looks, but after she had explained the situation, they cooed over little Kakeru, as if they were his relatives.

Quickly finishing up with her shopping, she had a quick chat with Shimada himself before leaving to go back home and get ready for Naho and Suwa to pick Kakeru up.

"Hello?"

"Yui? Is that you?" The familiar voice of another person filled her ears as Yui held her phone up to her ear.

"Eh? Is that you, Azusa? Why do you have Naho's phone?" she asked, stopping in front of Sakanoshita.

"A-An accident happened. Luckily Naho's mostly unharmed, but Suwa took most of the damage. We saw on the news on what had happened and quickly rushed over. Suwa has a broken leg and a fractured arm, while Naho just has a sprain and a few cuts. We saw Naho just now, and she told me to call you and explain. Oh, speaking of which, she's back."

"Wait, what?"

The phone switched hands and Yui could now hear a sniffling Naho.

"Naho! Are you okay? What about Suwa? He'll be fine, right?" Yui asked in a panic.

"He should be fine, but I don't think we'll be able to take care of Kakeru for awhile. Azusa is able to take over, but only after 3 in the afternoon tomorrow. Could you take care of him until then?"

"Of course! Anything to help you!" Just then, Kakeru started to cry, as if he knew that something had gone wrong with his parents. "Sorry! I need to calm Kakeru down. Text me everything, okay?"

"Alright."

The call ended, and Yui quickly put her phone away before she quickly unbuckled Kakeru out of his stroller and into her arms. "Shh, it's okay. Tou-san and Kaa-san will be alright." she whispered to him, bouncing up and down.

Feeling someone's gaze on her, she glanced behind her shoulder to see the team waiting for a few of their members to finish up. Ignoring them, she continued to calm Kakeru down, to the point where he had fallen asleep.

Seeing them pass by, she continued to look at the wall, making sure that they didn't know that it was her.

"A practice match with Nekoma, huh?"

 _'Nekoma?'_

She glanced over to see Daichi and Sugawara at the back, chatting.

 _"I honestly thought you were smarter than this, Yui. I'm disappointed in you."_

 _'Who said that?'_

Turning around, all she saw were the backs of their team jackets, nothing else. No one looked back, and no one had shown any sign of saying anything.

"God, maybe I'm just imagining things... Alright alright, we'll get back home." Holding Kakeru in one hand, she steered the stroller in the other and walked back home, grumbling.

 _'You were still sleeping when practice ended, so Suga and I brought you back home. Promise me not to overwork yourself so much, alright? You're still growing. -Daichi'_

"Sorry Daichi-senpai, but I need to break that promise."

* * *

"Oh god, what do I do? Should I just ask someone, or do I need to like, call the school or something? It's only 6, is it? And yes Kakeru, it was you who kept me up. Don't give me those eyes."

"Wait a minute..."

Rushing to her phone, she quickly dialed a number and paced around the room, hoping that the person would pick up.

"Hello?..."

"Hey Kise, do you have anything today?"

"Yui, it's 6 in the morning."

"You think I'd be calling you at this time if I needed you to do something? Just answer the fucking question."

"I think so? I dunno..."

"Well if you are, are you free till 3 in the afternoon?"

"Most likely..."

"Well good. Take care of Kakeru, would you?"

"Who's that?"

"My brother's friends' baby. I'm their personal babysitter, but I have school today and I never told the school that I'd be away. I'll be in deep shit if I don't attend. So, can you babysit?"

"Sure..."

"Great. Come over as soon as possible."

"If you say so..."

With that, Yui ended the call and sighed in relief. "I'm safe." she whispered to herself, before making a quick breakfast for herself and Kise. "Alright alright, I'll get you some snacks." she said to Kakeru, as he was starting to whine.

Picking him up, she walked over to her kitchen counter, where there was a bag of baby snacks. Opening it up, she took one out and put it in Kakeru's hand, placing him in his walker as he ate it.

Soon enough, there was a knock on the door, and Yui opened it up to reveal a groggy Kise. "Jeez, you're lucky that I agreed to this, y'know." Kise grumbled as he let himself in, sitting next to the couch as he yawned.

"Well, you get free breakfast, and you an help yourself to anything in hear as long as you don't exhaust my supplies and make a mess. Good enough for you?"

"I guess so."

The two chatted for a bit as Yui made breakfast, and after they finished up, Yui got changed and got ready for school. "I've texted Azusa to pick him up at the gym 2 at Karasuno, so just bring him there a few minutes before, alright? his baby food is in the fridge, so just heat it up and feed it to Kakeru at around 12. If he's hungry before then, then give him a few snacks or some formula. You know how much to add already, so I don't have to tell you. If something does wrong, text me, alright? I'll see you!"

With a wave, Yui was off to school, ready to be the asshole she was.


	4. Chapter 4: On and Off Again

_Just a quick note, I've changed the age and year of Yui to be 16 and a second year instead of 15 and a first year. I thought that taking care of a child and such would be quite a lot for a 15 year old. Yui's classmates are now Ennoshita and Narita._

* * *

 _'Fuck my life.'_

Just as Yui arrived at school and was about to go to the office, she was spotted by the hyper boy himself and was dragged by her wrist to the gym. "Hinata, please! I can walk by myself!"

"I know that you're gonna run away as soon as I let go, so there's no point in trying to convince me!" As much as she didn't want to admit it, even though he was quite the numbskull when it came to studying, Hinata was keen when it came to reading people.

Arriving at the gym, he slammed the door open with a bright smile, attracting the attention of all the members inside. "Yosh! Let's get started, shall we?" Hinata yelled, and Kageyama bonked him on the head.

"Idiot! We already started a long time ago!"

While the duo had their usual argument, the others stared at Yui, making her very uncomfortable with all of the eyes and the awkwardness.

"Let's get started, shall we? We have no time to be playing around."

Though they were a bit shocked by her stern voice, they obliged. Yui didn't speak a word throughout practice, except for the occasional tips and scolding.

"Do you think Yui's okay?" Hinata whispered to Sugawara, and he just sighed.

"She's built her barriers again." he mumbled, and Hinata stared at him, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Just get back to practice, it's nothing." Once practice was over, she left, holding her laptop in her arms.

When she went to class, she acted as if nothing happened to her classmates, and Ennoshita and Narita were confused.

During breaks in between classes, she would stare at a red flip phone, scrolling through something.

"What's that?"

She flinched and looked up to see the two boys at her desk. "I-It's nothing." she stuttered, quickly flipping the phone shut. "It's just some old photos." she mumbled.

"Well, if anything's wrong, tell us, alright?" Ennoshita said, and she nodded, giving him a faint smile.

"Of course."

"Everyone, back to your seats!" the teacher yelled out, and they gave her a smile back before going to their spots.

* * *

The bell rang, signifying the end of school. Yui was hurrying along, shoving everything she needed into her bag. "Ennoshita-san! Could you please tell Daichi-senpai that I'll be away for today's afternoon practice? I have something important to do, but I'll be able to come back in about an hour." she asked, and he nodded.

"Of course!"

Thanking him, Yui ran back to her house, where she texted Kise to stay at her house instead of meeting her at Karasuno, and the same went for Azusa, as she told her that she would meet her at the hospital.

Unlocking the door, she dropped her backpack on the floor and snagged her phone, wallet, and laptop bag, which shocked Kise. "Pass me Kakeru. I need to get to the hospital, ASAP." she said, holding her hands out, and he passed the toddler to her.

"The hospital? Do you want me to drive you?" he asked, and her eyes narrowed.

"Are you even legal?" she asked back, and he scoffed.

"Of course. I'm 19 now, of course I'm legal to drive." he answered, and Yui sighed.

"Just don't kill us."

"I won't."

Kise grabbed his car keys and the two exited out of the house and entered his car, which was a black Honda Civic. Because there was no seat for Kakeru, Yui just had to trust in Kise's driving skills, and buckle Kakeru with her.

They were quickly on their way, and in just a few moments, they arrived at the hospital. Thanking Kise, they parked in the parking lot and entered the hospital.

"Excuse me, would you please tell me where Suwa Hiroto and Takamiya Naho are?" she asked, and the receptionist looked up from her monitor.

"Of course. They're in room 204, upstairs."

"Thank you."

With Kakeru in one hand, she tugged Kise along with the other as they traversed through the hospital, arriving at the designated room. Knocking on the door, she slid it open to reveal everyone in the gang.

"Yui! You're here!" Takako exclaimed, and she nodded.

"I'll wait outside, alright?" Kise whispered, and he let her go ahead.

"I just came from school." she said, and took a look at the currently sleeping Suwa. "Damn. He looks really banged up." she mumbled, and they nodded.

"We were lucky that it wasn't any worse. Right, Hagita?" Azusa said, and the man known as Hagita Saku nodded. He was wearing a long white coat, and his tag clipped on had shown that he specialized with kids.

"Un. He seems to be pulling through quite well, so in a month or so, he should almost be fully healed if he takes rehab as well." he explained, and Yui sighed.

Walking over to Naho, she tapped on her shoulder, as it seemed like she was in a daze. "Naho? If you can, because of your wrist, you can hold Kakeru." she suggested, and Naho merely nodded.

Carefully placing the toddler on her lap, she walked over to where the others were and started to talk a bit. They caught up with each other, and of course, asked a few questions.

"Hey, did the guy who brought you here your boyfriend? Azusa asked slyly, and Yui swiftly flicked her on the forehead.

"As if. We're just friends, and he helped babysit Kakeru while I was at school today." she explained, checking her phone for the time. "I've gotta go. Got volleyball practice." she said.

"You play again?" Takako asked, but Yui shook her head.

"I'm their scouting agent. Remember, I can't play."

"Right..."

Saying her goodbyes, she exited the room, where she met up with Kise. "So, to Karasuno?" he asked, and she nodded.

Getting out of the hospital, they drove back to Karasuno, where Yui thanked Kise before going to the gym.

"How's everything going?"

Everyone looked over to see her at the door, and she saw a few other people that she didn't recognize.

"Shimada-san? Ukai-san? What are you guys doing here?" she asked, and they grinned.

"Having a small practice with our neighbourhood team. Care to join, Yui?" Shimada asked, she shook her head.

"No can do. I... I can't play." she mumbled, and he walked over hitting her on the back.

"What do you mean? Surely you can do some, just for a short time? Please? You can switch with Uchizawa." he pleaded, and she sighed.

"Alright alright. Just for a bit, alright?" Setting her things where the benches were, she grabbed some gym clothes and changed in the storage before slipping on a pinnie and her knee and arm braces.

"What's your position?" she asked Ushizawa.

"Wing spiker."

"Alright."

It was now Kageyama, Hinata, Daichi, Tanaka, Tsukishima, and Ennoshita versus Asahi, Shimada, Mori, Yui, Takinoue, Nishinoya, and Sugawara.

Walking to her position, the game resumed. They had kept up a good rally, and Sugawara now had no one free to set to. "Suga-senpai!"

He looked over to see that Yui was clear, so he tossed it to her, resulting in a perfect quick. "Nice one, Yui!" he said, putting his hand out.

"T-Thanks. That was a great toss." she mumbled, embarrassed as she completed his high five.

With that, their team perked up and started to work even harder with their jobs. Asahi was already back into shape, so Yui didn't have to do much.

Except when it came to Hinata and Kageyama's quicks.

They were too fast, and no one was able to read them in time. Yui had mainly been in the front line, so when she was finally in back, she sighed.

'It's time to see if I still have my skills in the bag.'

Everything went in slow motion.

Hinata moving behind Kageyama.

Him setting just as Hinata jumped.

And it was aimed right at the corner.

'...Now!'

With a few quick strides, Yui set herself up and braced for the impact.

'Shit, that hurt.'

The ball flew high into the air, and she yelled. "Sorry, it's short!" she said, running to the net.

"Got it!" Mori received it, sending it closer to the net, but not where Yui was.

"God fucking damn it." she mumbled, and pushing off with her right leg, she moved herself in a horizontal fashion, hitting the ball with her hand.

Everyone was caught off guard with the fact that she had managed to receive the duo's set, while Yui was concerned about the fact that she had miscalculated her jump.

She fell to the ground, landing on her shoulder and back. "Ow..." Slowly sitting up, she massaged her muscles, sighing.

"I think this is my limit. Ushizawa-san, you can come back in now." she called out, standing up to walk to her belongings.

"Wow! Yui-senpai, how did you go that?" Hinata asked, and she just smiled.

"You're too readable." she simply responded, and they stared at her blankly.

"...Too readable? But no one was able to read it!" Ukai exclaimed, and she turned to him.

"The way they play is very readable, Ukai-san. The fact that Hinata trust Kageyama so much and can just jump wherever can easily be read if you observe carefully." she explained before turning back to the duo.

"You'd better work hard, alright?" Walking away, they stared at her with respect before nodding.

"She's back to normal, huh? Quite the mood swings she has."

"What are you talking about to yourself, Suga-san?" Nishinoya asked, and he just gave him his infamous smile.

"It's nothing." His smile turned into a devilish smirk as he turned away.

"Nothing at all."

* * *

Yui felt a shiver go up her spine. 'Why do I have the feeling that someone's talking about me?' she thought before promptly sneezing. 'Yup. I was right.' Sighing, she resumed her scouting agent duties. It was interesting to see Nishinoya truly in action, and Asahi regaining his confidence to show his full potential.

It also gave her the chance to add onto her notes.

She could see how good Asahi was, even though he hadn't practiced in a month. His side easily won the first set over with his power.

'That reminds me... I think this is the first time I've seen Sugawara in full action. He has lots of potential, and I'm guessing he only started to set in his second year. Having your position taken right after you've truly earned it must be a painful feeling.'

In the end, Asahi and Sugawara's team had won the first set. Drenched in sweat, the team had a quick break, as they were stretched for time, and quickly started the second set.

Hinata seemed to be in a daze as he was in the back line, and Yui sighed. 'Off he goes again to dreamland. He's gonna get hit in the face if he doesn't do anything.' she thought, resting her chin on her hand.

"Hinata!"

She quickly looked up to see that the sunshiny boy was knocked over by Asahi's killer spike. "Speak of the devil..." she mumbled, and set her laptop down, walking over.

"Hinata, are you okay?" she asked, and he nodded.

"H-Hai!" he yelled, his eyes wide. Standing up, Yui felt a disturbing presence, behind her, and not wanting to look back, quickly used the nearby Sugawara to hide.

"An ace is so cool, but my best weapon of being a decoy sounds so lame." Kageyama started, and Yui peeked out to see that the presence had disappeared.

"If I had the power and height like Azumane-san, then I could become an ace." he finished, and Hinata clenched his fists.

"What are you talking about! I'm not thinking that!" he yelled.

"Just admit it. You're jealous of Azumane-san." The orange-haired boy didn't talk back, as he had nothing to say. Kageyama was indeed correct. "This isn't the time to be jealous during a match, especially if you're against said ace himself." he scolded.

"You wouldn't understand." Hinata grumbled. "Someone as tall as you wouldn't understand whatsoever!" he yelled, biting his lip as Kageyama just frowned.

"Hora, just stop arguing already. During all this, Takeda-sensei just extended our time, so be grateful." Yui interjected, and the two boys looked away in shame. "Hinata, stay calm. Being envious is normal, so don't worry." she said, before looking at Kageyama.

"Blueberry, calm the fuck down. Think of away to help Mr. Sunshine, here, alright? Something that can show him that being a decoy isn't all that bad."

The two paused for a moment before yelling in shock.

"B-Blueberry?!"

"Mr. Sunshine?!" they yelled, and the others burst out laughing.

"Shush, just get back to your game." she said while waving them off, and went back to her seat. Overall, it was a pretty close game, but the Neighborhood Association won by a good 7 points.

As the others did their cool down stretches, Yui approached, making sure that they did them properly and didn't harm themselves.

"Hinata, don't overdo it. You'll pull a muscle."

"Hai!"

"The same to all of you! I bet that not just me, but the rest of you don't want each other to get hurt. Whether you like it or not, just do it alright? And yes, I'm talking to you, Tsukishima, don't get salty on me."

Said boy scowled at everyone as they chuckled at her antics, and she continued her rounds.

Seeing as Sugawara was... let's say struggling a bit on his flexibility as he tried to touch his chest to the ground while doing splits, Yui walked over and sat down behind him, leaning back to back as she pushed him forward.

"Hmm, you're a nice backrest, Sugawara-san." she lightly commented as he winced slightly, and she lighted the load, just so that he wouldn't over stretch.

"You're welcome?" he said through clamped teeth, and she stopped.

"Okay okay." Standing up, she packed her things as everyone did the same and pulled on their jackets and shoes.

"Don't forget, our golden week training starts soon!" Daichi reminded, and everyone answered with a loud, "Osu!" With that, they all left the gym.

* * *

Golden Week training finally came around, and they all worked hard. The team, with the help of their new coach, Ukai-san, mainly practiced receives. As for Yui, she worked on obtaining information about Nekoma for their upcoming match.

"So, are you familiar with Nekoma?" Daichi asked, and she nodded.

"Used to be friends with one of their members, but sorta lost touch after a while. We still chat every so often, but not much anymore. I have a few old videos that he used to send to me, so I'm looking them over and seeing any possibilities that the could have taken." she explained, and he nodded.

"Right! About the training camp, Yui-chan, are you going to be staying at the facility that we're using?" Sugawara asked, walking to sand beside Daichi as he had a towel around his neck.

"Most likely. My house is pretty far away from the school to begin with, so it'll be easier."

"Alright. Us third years will make sure that the rowdy ones won't bother you." he said with a smile, and she smiled back, bowing in her seat.

"I'd appreciate that."

* * *

"Tanaka, Nishinoya! Calm down, or else you'll spill all your food!"

Once again, it was up to Yui to be the mother as she made sure that there wasn't any mishaps during their meals.

They had practiced in the gym before heading to the facilities to settle down and have dinner before heading to bed for the next day. Both girls, Kiyoko and Yui, as well as Takeda-sensei and Ukai-san made curry and salad, a simple meal, for the team, and they all seemed to enjoy it.

After they finished, the two girls were also on clean up duty, but Yui let Kiyoko go early, and she finished up just as Yamaguchi entered the kitchen. "Yui-san, the bath is free for you to use." he said, and she smiled to him.

"Alright. Thank you for telling me, Yamaguchi."

Wiping her hands on a towel, she let the dishes dry and left the kitchen, going to the large closet that had all of their stuff. Grabbing the things she needed, she headed to the bath and soaked up the warm water.

'Let's see... Tomorrow we're mainly doing legs, just running and such, and we also have our normal practice. Yamaguchi, Tsukishima, and Hinata need to work on their receives a lot more, Kageyama might want to do serves, Nishinoya would probably go straight for receives as well... Maybe he'd want to try libero setting? Nah, probably not, but maybe in the future. As for the third years... Daichi and Asahi are wing spikers, if I can remember, so they would probably work on spikes, maybe blocks. Speaking of which, Tsukishima would have to work on those as well, he is our tallest player. As for Sugawara, even though he isn't a main anymore, he could work on working with others. Just to get used to everyone's needs if the time arises for him to be set out.'

"Yui-san, it's almost lights out." she could hear a voice call from the door, and she yelled back.

"Alright! I'm just finishing up!"

Stepping out of the bath, she walked over to her towel, dried herself off, and changed into her pajamas before pulling a light sweater on top.

Brushing her teeth as well, she put a bit of moisturizer on her face before collecting her things and exiting the bath. Putting her stuff back, she walked to the sleeping area with her laptop and opened the door to hear a girly screech.

"What the heck?" she said, and looking around, she could see Hinata clinging onto Tanaka, who was also cowering in fear. "What's going on now?" she asked slyly, setting her laptop on a nearby bed.

"Sp-Spider!" Hinata whimpered, and Yui sighed.

"Where?" she asked, and both boys pointed to the nearby corner. Walking over, she saw that it was very much harmless, so she let it crawl on her finger.

"Look, there's nothing to worry about. It's just a small one. Why don't you take a closer look?" she jokingly said, walking back to them, and they screamed, retreating. "Kidding, kidding! You guys are such scaredy cats."

Going to the nearby window, she cracked it open and let the spider crawl out before closing it back.

"See? All done. You two should head to bed now, it's basically light out now." she said, seeing as everyone was trickling in and getting into their beds.

"Hai..." they mumbled, and crawled in. Yui picked up her laptop, and went to her designated place, which was in the corner close to the door. Luckily, it was next to Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, the two quiet ones, so she had nothing to worry about.

Takeda turned off the lights in their room after everyone had settled in at 9 pm and retreated to his own room, and it took awhile for the club to fall asleep. Yui was left awake to dwell in the silent, but slightly suffocating darkness.

After a while, she checked her phone to see that about one hour had passed, so she got out of bed, picked up her laptop and phone, as well as her headphones in the bag room, before walking out to the cafeteria.

It was quite chilly inside, but it was good enough for her, as she dragged a blanket with her.

Settling down, she played some music as she worked on some school work and watched a few videos from Nekoma.

 _*buzz buzz*_

Looking down at her phone, she saw a text from someone she hadn't seen in a long time.

 _Here. Have this video from our latest practice match. I know we haven't talked much, but I want to get back in touch with you. See if you can recognize me!_

 _\- krtleader_

"Who is this?" she muttered to herself, before remembering the name and who it was. "Oh. It's you." Downloading the file, she watched it, looking at the names on the jerseys to see if she could spot the familiar character.

"There you are. Man, you seem like a ladykiller now. Lemme guess, no one likes you? Maybe you're gay? Who knows."

Continuing, she used the new information from the video to confirm her suspicions or add some more. Getting a bit thirsty, she walked out to where the vending machine was, and grabbed something to drink.

She continued to work through the night until it was midnight, and her eyelids started to droop. 'No... Not yet...' she thought, trying to stay awake, but in the end, she rested her head on the table and fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, Sugawara woke up, and went to the kitchen to get some water. He almost fell over when he saw the ghost like figure sitting at the table, before realizing that it was just Yui.

After grabbing his water, he went over to her, and lightly shook her. "Hey, Yui-san? You should get to bed." he softly said, but there was no answer. Sighing, he put her laptop to sleep, paused her music, and removed her headphones before picking her up.

Moving her to her bed, he tucked her in before grabbing her items and placing them next to her. Then he as well went back to sleep.

Their practice match was coming up, and he didn't want to slack off.

* * *

 _omg sorry for not updating guys I was super busy with school and still am TvT_

 _too many projects and crap and idk why the teachers like to give us so much stuff_

 _lol luckily break is coming up soon so I can have more time procrastinating and writing more chapters_

 _now if you'll excuse me i gotta do some projects now T^T_


End file.
